I like how Douglas and Ross all of a sudden at the olympics decided to emulate Maroney's competition hairstyle, totally gorgeous. I like how Kyla saw Maroney jumping up and down with hands raised in the air when Raisman won floor and decided to do it too, and how when Kyla saw Raisman put her team medal on Brestyan she though about doing the same, etc etc. Honey you're not 6 yrs old, can you think and act on your own, or is it just that you're used to people telling you what to do and how to do it and you don't know what to do when given the chance. Not blamin ya, jusy sayin

Kyla is not a "copy cat", she's not incompetent and she's definitely not stupid. She's just a human being following psychological norms.

"Mirroring"

Mirroring is the behaviour in which one person copies another person usually while in social interaction with them. It may include miming gestures, movements, body language, muscle tensions, expressions, tones, eye movements, breathing, tempo, accent, attitude, choice of words/metaphors and other aspects of communication. It is often observed among couples or CLOSE FRIENDS. Close friends being the key word. Kyla and Mckayla have known each other since they were tots.

Additionally, Mckayla has been shown a sense of favoritism among the older girls, (her Jordyn and Aly seem to be the three musketeers). It's not abnormal for Douglass and Ross to admire that. At the end of the day it's people like you who sit here nitpicking and blowing up their every movements that will escalate this to the "Mag 7" disaster. They brought home gold. Let's be proud of that and call it a day.

Anon @5:47- I think Kyla is a typical shy 15 year old that is not accustomed to having a camera on her all around London. I'm sure she looks to her more outgoing teammates (Maroney) for guidance on some of those social things so she doesn't look "stupid". Give her a break. :(

actually, her dependence and lack of self confience make her look "stupid." that mindset is reflected in her routines. like when she lands something on beam and squats twice as if just to make sure she really did it; could live w/o that crap. i agree with post at 5:47. i'd give her a break if she were like 6 yrs old. i know that sounds mean, but hey, i'm not a floofy doofy fairies and flowers everything's so wonderful type of thinker. nothing against kyla, just never was a fan of copycats..

Was this team debriefed after all the events were over? All that tension and fatigue is going to blow up in a big way (if it hasn't already), and then you'll have a Mag Seven-level mess. They need to get all the players into a room and get EVERYTHING out on the table, penalty-free. Address the disappointment/jealousy, poorly timed tweets, facial expressions, whatever. Address all the post-victory statements that were slaughtered by editors and twisted around into something they NEVER said. Help these girls develop positive, coping skills for all the tabloid trash they're about to read about themselves. There are far too many haters out there who are ripping these kids apart for leotard choices or hairstyles or family issues. Reading (and commenting on) all that racially tinged Cyberspace nastiness had to impact Gabby Douglas before event finals...girl was not the same. Remember what Nancy Kerrigan went through after the '94 Olympics? Jeez! Hopefully Team USA is doing more for these kids beyond just yanking them between media appearances.

I agree Gabby was definitely affected by everything going into event finals. The girl owned London through the AA, and at event finals, she just looked downright miserable. It took months and months to build up her confidence in order to do what she did in Team Finals and the AA, and with one google search, it all went away just like that. I hope she's able to find a way to get past it. From this point on, how could she get through a televised meet without wondering what people are tweeting about her. Worst part is, it wasn't racism at all regarding her hair. The people who were tweeting about it, and I saw it as it was happening, were African-American women. Your comment is spot on, but it probably won't happen. They'll all end up in therapy within the next few years.

The Mag Seven had issues that occurred within days of their team victory in '96. Understandable discomfort erupted when Kerri was hoisted above the team as the "hero". Then came the dueling tours (one of which went bust), then confirmation from both Kerri's and Shannon's mom's respective books (plus a few interviews) that the media attention on Kerri made the other girls jealous and caused problems. Those hard feelings went on for years. It could have been addressed ASAP with a mandatory, day-after "we're taking a couple of hours away from everyone else, and we're addressing this issue NOW before it snowballs". I work in public safety, and this kind of media hero-worship rips crews apart. When the world focuses on a photo moment of a rescue and holds THAT rescuer up as "the hero", it alienates him/her from the rest of the squad. It causes huge morale issues. Most agencies have mandatory debriefings even after successful, highly visible rescues to thwart the festering. The same should be true for these athletes. They've been in a pressure-cooker for so long, so much unexpected stuff happened, every media outlet wants their own piece of the heroes, everyone else wants to lambaste the athletes who "let America down". Now that the meet has ended, the masses now feel it's appropriate to fixate on hair, leotard styles, crying, clubbing...hopefully USAG is learning from this, because it really is becoming a cautionary tale in this media age. Peace on all these athletes, and prayers for their futures.